


To Have and to Hold.

by highinfibre



Category: Ghosts (TV 2019)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, F/M, Gen, One-Sided Relationship, Unrequited Love, in the sense that they were long betrothed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:33:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23599894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/highinfibre/pseuds/highinfibre
Summary: The marriage vow is a sacred one, to be served, honoured, and upheld. For better or for worse.
Relationships: Lady Fanny Button/George Button
Comments: 7
Kudos: 16





	To Have and to Hold.

The mark of a good show is eliminating the smallness of one’s parts. Even the ensemble hold great importance on the individual level. One’s audience must be led through seas of blood, sweat, and tears, and believe that your parting them is effortless. But an act is not grand, nor is it produced from thin air as a rabbit from its hat. Cultivating performative actions takes effort and time; costumes must be sewn, and façades must be built upon to fit the role. 

Love at first sight would not be remiss when describing the way Fanny met George. Young as they were - seven years of age, as was the way in arrangements such as theirs - she couldn’t deny that she had felt a spark. Impeccably dressed, he had scuffed his shoes against the floor impatiently as their fathers conversed. Several times, he had near tripped over his own soles. That had sparked a giggle on her behalf, soon turning into an all out war of pulling strange faces. It became a competition for the two, Fanny making spirited attempts to match George sneer for furtive sneer. She received quite the scolding when caught - a Lady was not to act with such little decorum! - yet in Fanny’s mind it had been worth it. A welcome break from the regimen of etiquette or formality, and a daring introduction to the boy who was to be her husband. Did he always scuff his shoes, she wondered, or was it simply a distaste for suede leather over patent? Perhaps his boredom had simply overtaken him. If George was one to be easily bored, then she didn’t think she’d mind. It could be lovely, having a husband who sought out surprise and excitement.

Time passed by as, on occasion, he is want to do, and Fanny found the nature of her thoughts growing alongside her. She wrote to George with increasing frequency through the years that passed. Though her life hardly held the intensity of novels by Austen or Shelley (there was only so much to be said of the Horsley Annual Fayre), she gave it the respect it was due, venturing to look forward to visiting alongside him once they could officially court. He would reply in turn, his letters rare yet succinct. His words, scant though they were, never failed to draw her in. 

> _ Fanny, _
> 
> _ Regarding a jaunt at the Fayre, it sounds most pleasurable. Perhaps we may entertain ice skating upon the lake once it’s all official. I hope you can keep yourself upright, I’m simply awful. Very little here, by the way- Father's gotten a hold of new wildlife to introduce to the grounds, so all hands on deck. _
> 
> _ George _

Clutching the page to her chest, Fanny had fought with all her might to hold back a girlish giggle. At thirteen she was too mature to fall prey to such outbursts, already well on her way to embracing womanhood. It was a testament to her restraint that she refrained, settling for a glowing, tightlipped grin. Were she also to click her heels it would be done out of sight and, therefore, out of anyone’s minds. A Lady, as her mother would remind her, ought to be seamless and elegant. 

In the days that followed George’s letter would be folded and unfolded repeatedly, to the point that it became near fabric soft, its creases would be permanently etched through the hastily scribbled ink. She housed it with great care inside her pillow case, until the latest correspondence should arrive and it could join the others in the drawer of her writing desk.

**Author's Note:**

> I adore Fanny, but she doesn't get enough focus. I hope this was a satisfactory start!


End file.
